Clarity

[jen0dorf]

Tis question the second which I suspect is going to be a disaster!

The attached xar file is of a logo which I reproduced in extreme and to do it I viewed at 500%- it looks OK.

However when I export it as a graphic and insert it in a web page it looks grim.

How should I have gone about this so that my image was sharp and clear when 150*150?


thanks

Ian

[AntonyF]

I think your main problem is that the text is just objects, it's not actual text. And blocks will look okay close up, but when you zoom out Xtreme (or any program for that matter) just does the best it can.

If you can use a font to replace all the text on the image that would help a lot.

[AntonyF]

Actually, I see that's not the case. I think it's something to do with the colour pallette, but can't remember how to change that.

The quickest fix is just to copy the logo it into a new document. You'll find it's better then.

Antony

[parahandy]

set your quality control slider to highest, it makes it better as youcan see, by the way I do not have your fonts

[parahandy]

here is the .xar

[gwpriester]

Part of the problem, as pointed out, is in your attached file, your view quality is set to Normal instead of Anti-aliased (Window > Quality > Anti-aliased). Anti-aliased is the cleanest and sharpest view quality mode.

The attached file was saved as a 8-bit PNG file with 16 color color depth.

I enlarged your image to 500% and did a screen capture to show the other part of the problem. The type size you are using is fine for a print ad, but for the web in order to display the type properly, Xara (and any other application creating bitmaps for the web) has to anti-alias the text. This is a process of adding intermediate colored pixels around the letters to give the look of smooth, crisp text. Windows has a diplay of 96 pixels per inch. This is a fixed amount. So at the size of your image, small text is more an illusion than reality.

Gary

[jen0dorf]

Hi Gary

thanks for the reply

If small text is an illusion on the web then is it better to create a large image in xara export as a large bitmap and then resize? will this give the clearest text?

cheers

Ian

[David O'Neil]

Why are you trying to cram this much graphics into 150x150 pixels? That is your main problem.

If you *have* to place everything you have placed onto this small of an area, perhaps your best alternative is to replace all of your fonts with sans-serif fonts, and CAPITALIZE ALL LETTERS. Anything that results in font sizes equivalent to 5 point and smaller leads to reading problems, like you are seeing. Even 6 point can be difficult...

Or, just increase the final output size of the graphic.

Unless I am misunderstanding your problem...

David

[jen0dorf]

Hi

The problem is that the "graphic" is an approved logo that the client wants on their web site so it cannot be altered without lots of grief.

So the solution may be to change it'sposition in the site.

Thanks for all the advice greatly appreciated, it's logos that always cause me agravation

cheers

Ian

[David O'Neil]

First question for the client is can you make the logo bigger than 166x140? Every pixel you can talk them into is an improvement.

Another thing you can do is something like the following, which resulted in the attached file:

1) Outline every text object in black, making them thicker.

2) Export to some format at 600dpi. The attachment was created from a png.

3) Open the exported file in another program with more export capabilities than Xara. RealDraw was used for the attachment. I've heard that Photoshop or another program has even better export options, but I don't have it.

4) Export the graphic from that program, resizing it and applying a sharpening algorithm. In RealDraw I used 100% quality, Bilinear sampling, and 49% output sharpening for the attached. You will want to play with settings until you like it, so don't just copy mine.

That is the best I know how to do, and as you can see, even it isn't the best. It will also slightly shift the colors, as you will see if you compare the background yellow/orange to your original color.

FYI, you have a spelling error in 'certification' - you missed an 'i'. You may also want to center the '170' under the box.

Best wishes,
David

[Edit]
The one on the right has had the quality slider moved as per parahandy's suggestion, and I also changed the RealDraw settings slightly. You will see that you will want to play with several items if you follow the above suggestions, such as not outlining the 'CERTIFIED'.
[/Edit]